F1 2018 Dev Diary 2: Car Research & Development

Codemasters has just uploaded the F1 2018 Dev Diary 2 video, the second instalment in a four part series revealing what’s new about this year’s official Formula 1 game. F1 2018 dev diary 2 focuses on car research and the development system, and how each season will be different in F1 2018 meaning you’ll have to pay attention to rule changes and how your vehicle is progressing accordingly.

“We already had an extensive R&D system in last year’s game but wanted to expand this for F1 2018 based both on feedback from our community and where we want to take the Career experience too,” commented Lee Mather, Game Director, F1 2018. “We have made significant changes to the in-game pricing structure, added ERS upgrades, given each of the Formula 1 Teams their own unique R&D tree, and added a fog of war around the development.

“Probably the most significant addition is the introduction of rule changes, meaning that each season you don’t know where the other teams are going to be performance wise. It makes every year unique and drives you to want to do season after season.” Lee continued. “The player will be notified by their engineer that a rule change could be taking place at the end of the year and they can choose to use R&D points to preserve upgraded items to protect areas that have already been developed. Doing so could see the player starting the following season in a stronger position. However, the other teams will also have to contend with the rules changes, meaning you take to the grid in Melbourne not knowing which teams are the fastest.”

Rocket Chainsaw reviewed F1 2017 when it launched in August last year, giving it 4.5 stars, calling it “hands down the best F1 game of all time.” It will be interesting to see how they improve on it this year.

The F1 2018 release date will occur on the same week as the Formula 1 2018 Belgian Grand Prix, launching on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC platforms on August 24, 2018.

David Latham

David has a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism) from a Group of Eight university, but only uses his very unique set of skills writing about video games. By day he's a stay-at-home dad, by night he's literally Batman. Where does he find the time?